City of Rowlett Water Department / Water bill!

Over the past year I have been struggling with the water district in Rowlett, Texas regarding a property located at 209 Point Royal. The house has been vacant the entire year and we have been attempting to sell it. For four months we received no bill at all and then received a bill for over $1000.00! We called the city and were advised that the previous renter had left them owing over $900 and we would have to pay that. We advised them that we were not responsible for their bill and that we would not pay it. They finally agreed and stated they would work with us for the amount that was due for the water after they had moved. We hired 2 different plumbers to look for any problems at the house and both said there was no problem. I secured this information from them in writing and provided it to the City. We also met with the City water people at the property and they stated they would check the meter to ensure it was working properly. The city agreed to split the bill in half and that we could pay it $100 each month, we still did not agree with the decision but decided it was just best to get it resolved. Then the next month the water bill came again and it was over $300.00! Again, the house is VACANT, no one lives there! We called the city again and made arrangements to meet someone at the property to check the meter. No one showed and we went to meet with the City Manager. On that meeting the City Manager agreed to have a secret meter installed and review any bills that were sent in the future. We that worked for two months, we got a few small bills, still more than we thought was correct for a vacant house but we paid them. Now I have another bill that is $123.55 and shows that there were 10,500 gallons used. Again the house is VACANT, no one lives there. The only time any water is used is when we rarely flush the commodes! No watering of the yard is being done.

I truly believe they are trying to collect that $900 that the renter left unpaid from us and are also punishing us for raising the issue at all! Please help, get these people under control!!!

Comments

Rowlett does this and the City Manager needs to be fired... we pay more for water then ANY OTHER city and its ridiculous... we all get our water from the same place as Garland yet we pay almost double... and to top it off I can be in the shower and loose water pressure because the City of Rowlett does not fix the problem and blames it all on the builders yet it is the City that is responsible for insuring the builders do the right thing for the subdivisions!! It is also the City that s to install pumps were needed and the City has failed on this issue.

I agree city manager should be fired. Rowlett made the news the last week of September 2012 for a 9 percent increase in water cost. I give him an failing grade for logical problem solving and that is what a manager is suppose to do.